


Second Time's The Charm

by Katyakora



Series: Know Me Truly [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Multi, Second first kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 18:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7811776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katyakora/pseuds/Katyakora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Len and Barry's (second) first kiss.</p><p>Follows on directly from 'Cold Truth'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Time's The Charm

**Author's Note:**

> As requested by Rili.
> 
> This got deeper than expected. POV switches between Len and Barry.

This was almost agonising. Len hadn’t realised just how accustomed he’d gotten to touching and being touched when he was around Barry. Never before in his life had he had to consciously stop himself from hugging someone. But Barry was still skittish, still firmly moored in a world where the two of them were barely allies. For the first time since their relationship began, Len felt the sickening sting of jealousy as he watched the ease with which Barry and Iris fell back into the rhythm of casual touch. He swallowed it down and told himself to be patient. 

 

He couldn’t have known that Barry felt something similar when he saw just how comfortable Len looked with Iris in his arms. Len’s trust in her, trust that she had earned, was clear in the thoughtless, automatic way they reached out to each other whenever they were close. At first it was just an odd sense of loss, of bereft of something he didn’t remember having. It also reminded him that he was an outsider, making him feel like a poor imitation intruding on something he was never supposed to get. But as more and more fragments of memory surfaced, loss turned to yearning and that feeling of intrusion began to feel more like he was holding himself too far back.

 

They talked about it, Len and Iris, the first night they spent alone together in her familiar apartment, both very aware of the Barry-shaped hole in their bed. They made a plan, if it could be called that, since it largely involved being patient. Len could happily case the same location day in and day out for weeks, but in this it didn’t take long before he got damn sick of reminding himself to be patient. 

 

The way Barry would look at them didn’t help. It was as if his eyes would wander back to them without permission, each time leaving one part of him surprised by their closeness and another, steadily growing, part of him wanting to slip an arm around Len’s shoulders to match the one Iris had around his waist. He also struggled not to dwell on certain memories, the kind that involved flashes of two sets of hands on him, of teeth nipping his neck as lips traced the v of his hips. Those snippets made him want to reach out and touch all the more, to relearn skin that was pale and scarred, dark and smooth. A part of him, the part that still felt like an intruder, wanted to suppress that desire, feeling as though he’d taken their Barry away from them and therefore deserved to be denied. The other part just wanted him to man up and take what they were so clearly offering.

 

Len and Iris made it clear they were quite willing to go at his pace, to give him all the time he needed to adjust. They wouldn’t rush him, wouldn’t even try to initiate contact he hadn’t shown he was comfortable with. It was easier for Iris, who could comfortably seize every opportunity for a hug or even a soft, chaste kiss. Len had to content himself with simply being present, letting Barry get used to having him close. He had to watch as Barry wavered between getting closer and closing off. It was painful, because by now he was clearly comfortable around the thief, but he was still holding back for some reason, and Len had sworn to Iris he wouldn’t pull any stunts to force Barry’s hand, like he had last time.

 

Len’s uncanny new ability to predict the best course of action had already proved invaluable. Simply suggesting options beyond the most obvious was often more than enough help to the hero. That was all it took; a way out of the box his enemy had built for him, deceptively simple and life-savingly brilliant. Had it been Cisco or Caitlin, Barry would have hugged them without thought. But it was Len, and when he moved without thought it was a different action his body remembered. 

 

Both men froze as Barry lost himself in his relief and pressed his lips to Len’s to express his gratitude. Before Len really had the chance to appreciate what was happening, Barry was pulling back, looking stunned and mortified. Len felt raw and exposed, aware in the back of his mind that the rest of the room had gone silent, but wholly focused on the man in front of him.

 

“I didn’t mean to do that,” Barry admitted in a rush. Len felt the hope that had risen in his chest fall to form a lead weight in his stomach.

 

“I know,” he answered, hoping to assure the hero he understood, despite the way he had to fight to keep his voice from breaking. But apparently he didn’t understand, because Barry was still staring at him with that look of shock. 

 

And then Barry kissed him again, tentative but deliberate. The instant Len returned the pressure, Barry’s enthusiasm and feeling was back, his hands coming up to cradle Len’s jaw as he deepened the kiss without hesitation. Len groaned, unable to resist snaking his hands around Barry’s waist to pull him closer, maximising contact with the way Barry molded his whole body against him, just the way he used to. 

 

“Oh wow!” They broke apart at the sound of Caitlin’s whispered exclamation, finally remembering they weren’t alone.

 

“Girl, you have no idea,” Iris proclaimed smugly as she strode around the main console to pull a blushing Barry into a searing kiss of her own. Len watched with a self-satisfied smirk, pulling one hand off Barry’s hips to put it around Iris, one of Barry’s hands still on his shoulder, the fingers digging in a little as Iris finally got to kiss him with all the passion she’d been holding back.

  
“Not that this isn’t sweet and, y’know, kinda hot, I’d like to remind the superhero in the room that we still have a metahuman to catch,” Cisco reminded them pointedly. They broke apart sheepishly, Len leveling a glare at the engineer, even if he did have a point. He was mollified somewhat when Barry took the time to quickly kiss first Iris and then Len before flashing out the door.


End file.
